Cannibal Flesh Riot!

An Interview with Gris Grimly

Part Tim Burton, part Charles Addams, local artist Gris Grimly (official site, MySpace)is the next ghoulish creative type destined to become a household name… even if only at decrepit haunted households.

Master Grimly will be having an autograph signing tomorrow (Saturday, October 28) at Virgin on Sunset beginning at 3pm. But the bigger event for Grimly are the upcoming screenings of “Cannibal Flesh Riot”, his film directorial debut. Tickets are available to see the thirty minute live action short on November 15th and 16th at 8pm at the Silent Movie Theatre. each screening will be followed with a Q & A and a performance by Hola Ghost, who’s song inspired and serves as the title track.

While out graverobbing the other night, I bumped into Gris and asked him a few questions…

Do you have a favorite Halloween memory?

Dressing up as a werewolf for a town parade. I greased my hair back and painted my face black. I even wore those cheesy plastic white fangs that hurt your gums. I made a chain out of construction paper and connected it to my wrists. I looked like a werewolf from a Paul Naschy film.

Have you ever seen or experienced what may have been a ghost? I’d love to hear about it – where, when, and what happened. If not, do you have a favorite story you’ve been told about any local ghosts?

When I was in college, I lived in a small midwestern town of 6000 people. It had a town square where they would hold flea markets and festivals. Around the square were old red brick buildings that have been there since the birth of the town. I lived above a video store that was in one of these buildings. Strange occurances would happen, come to find out the building was haunted. I lived there for two years, so I have a handful of stories. The creepiest would be the night I woke up and saw on the ground, in front of me, a man with long hair crawling towards me on hand and knee. I have many stories and plan on making a supernatural film around them.What other local artists do you admire?

Off the top of my head: Camille Rose Garcia, Eric Pigors, Crab Scrambly and David Hartman

Cannibal Flesh Riot comes out next month – what can you tell us about the production?

First of all, this film was made on an extremely low budget. The total is around $6000. Everyone worked for free out of love for the film. Most of our equipment we got for free. But we were really limited on lights. Sometimes we had to use shop lights, Chinese lanterns and canister lights from Home Depot. The film was shot in a backyard in North Hollywood for $100 that we creatively turned into a vast graveyard. Despite the budget, our main actors are top notch. I think with all the ambition and talent involved, this film could easily be mistaken for a $40,000 picture.